Fabric



Patented Jan. 15, 1935 .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FABRIC Isaac B. Merriman, Barrington, R. L, assignor to ManvilleJenekes Corporation, Manville, R. L, y a corporation of Delaware Application March 30, 1934, Serial No. 718,233

, 4 Claims. (01. 139-420) The present invention relates to the production of artificial silk, and more particularly to a fabric embodying surface threads of artificial silk napped to provide a napped surface on the fabric.

It is characteristic of cloth made from artificial silk threads commercially available, that a relatively hard, brilliant'surface is produced on the cloth due primarily to the character of the thread employed. These same qualities are, of course, to be found in the artificial silk threads used in commercial practice for manufacturing this cloth. The principal reason for this relatively hard, brilliant quality of the threads as compared, for instance, to threads of natural silk, is to be found in the fact that in the manufacture of artificial silk threads, at relatively small number of filaments are employed in making a thread of a given denier. A thread of 150 denier in commercial practice, may contain 24 or 40 or in some in-' stances filaments. Aside from the difilculties in the manufacture of artificial silk threads having a relatively large number of smaller filaments, it has been found that for ordinarypurposes a thread having a relatively low number of filaments is better suited for-many classes of work, is less likely to disintegrate in handling, will retain its original size and consistency, will not rough up, and will not readily disintegrate under repeated chafing or heavy wear. Fabric woven from artificial silk of this general description while having many useful and desirable qualities, has certain definite limitations which tend seriously to limit the uses to which it may be put commercially. It has been found, for instance, that fabric of this type cannot successfully be napped to produce a soft, velvet-like surface on the fabric. put through a napping machine, very little nap is raised, and the fabric is likely to be torn or at least greatly weakened.

It is a principal object of the present invention by the use of threads of artificial silk having a relatively high number of filaments for a given denier, to produce a new and improved fabric embodyingartificial silk threads, which will have an appearance and feeling of quality which it has not been possible previously to obtain in fabrics of this general description.

It is a further object of the present invention to produce a fabric woven from threads of artificial silk which may be successfully subjected to the action of a napping machine to produce a soft, velvet-like surface on the fabric.

It is another object of the present invention to When a fabric of this description is produce a fabric having woven therein surface threads of artificial silk in accordance with a predetermined design which are particularly adapted when subjected to a napping operation to produce a soft, velvet-like effect on the surface of the fabric which will follow and clearly accentuate the woven design of the fabric.

In carrying out the present invention, it is proposed to use a thread of artificial silk having a relatively large number of very fine filaments to produce a fabric of artificial silk which will have new and desirable qualities not previously produced in this type of goods. While it is preferred to utilize a thread having filaments in the order of one filament per denier, so that a thread of 150 denier, for instance, will preferably have 150 filaments, experimental use has shown that substantial benefits are to be derived from, the use of a thread in which the ratio of threads per denier may be as low as filaments for a -denier thread. In view of these considerations,

it will be understood that the expression relatively large number of filaments for a given denier as hereinafter used throughout the specification and claims, will refer specifically to a thread having a number of filaments which is in the ratio of at least 100 filaments for 150 denier thread.

Artificial silk threads having a relatively large number of filaments per unit of size, have been found to have unexpectedly useful qualities for the manufacture of certain types of goods. Such threads when employed as filling threads, tend to add body to the goods, and to produce a much softer and moreplush-like effect than can be produced by the use of artificial silk threads of the commercially available type above described.

Moreover, it has been found possible to subject a fabric formed with these threads to the action "of a napping machine to produce a very satisfactory and substantial nap on the goods without at the same time appreciably weakening or otherwise injuring the fabric.

The several features of the present invention herein described and claimed, together with the advantages to be obtained thereby, should be readily understood by one skilled in the art when considered in connection'with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a somewhat diagrammatic view of a woven-jacquard or figured fabric having filling threads with. a high filament content in the order of about one filament per denier; Fig. 2 is a view of the fabric-shown in Fig. 1 showing the napped appearance of the raised figured portions after the fabric has been put through the napping machine; Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged detail of a portion of the fabric shown in Fig. 1 to illustrate the form of the weave; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The fabric illustrated in the drawing as embodying in a preferred form the several features of the present invention, is a jacquard or dobby design having the warp threads indicated at 6 preferably of cotton or of artificial silk of ordinary description having, for example, 24 or 40 filaments for denier, and filling or cross threads 8 which have a relatively large number of filaments in the order of about one filament per denier, so that if it be assumed that filling threads of 300 denier are being used, that each thread will have 300 filaments.

A fabric containing threads of this description in which there is a relatively large number of filaments for a given denier, has been found to have new and useful properties not found in previously manufactured artificial silk fabrics. These properties are due to the use of artificial silk threads having a relatively large number of filaments for a given denier which, because of their peculiar characteristics, would not ordinarily be considered a commercially practicable product. These threads when manufactured from viscose in accordance with the pot spinning method, are held together by a relatively loose twist which, taken in connection with the peculiar quality of the viscose filaments themselves, results in a thread of extremely soft texture which tends to loosenup and expand with handling, and is very easily roughed up or shredded by chafing. These threads are, for instance, unsuited for use in the warp of a woven fabric which is necessarily subjected to considerable handling due to the movement of the jacquard in positioning the threads, and the continuous movement of the shuttle back and forth across the warp. These threads, however, when used for filling threads in connection with a warp composed of artificial silk having a relatively small number of filaments for a given denier, or with commercial cotton threads, result in the production of a new fabric which has a considerably greater body for its weight, is of a fine, soft texture, and due to the qualities of lustre andbrightness inherent in artificial silk, has an appearance of richness which cannot be approached by fabric composed entirely of cotton or of the usual commercial artificial silk threads.

With a fabric of this description in which the filling threads have a relatively high number of filaments for a given denier, it has been found possible to raise a considerable nap on the surface of the cloth to produce a really soft, velvetlike effect, without at the same time injuring or seriously weakening the material. The filling threads as above pointed out, tend to expand, and therefore stand out prominently on the surface of the fabric, so that they are easily accessible to the cardclothing surface of the napping machine. At the same time the large number of filaments in the filling or cross threads enables a relatively large number of these to be broken to produce the desired nap without at the same time seriously weakening the threads.

The threads of this description are particularly valuable to produce a napped figured fabric of any ordinary jacquard or dobby design, in which the form of the weave causes the filling threads forming the figured portion of the design to stand up prominently on the surface of the fabric. One form of jacquard weave to produce a figured design has been illustrated in the drawing, in which it will be seen that the filling threads are passed under one and over five warp threads to form the raised portion of the design. The material formed in this manner is then subjected to the action of a napping machine which engages only with the raised or figured portions of the design to produce a napped surface, as illustrated generally in Fig. 2. It will readily be seen that the weight or thickness of the fabric and the depth of the nap called for may be controlled by varying the size of the filling threads. For instance, a filling thread of 300 denier comprised of 300 filaments may be expected to produce a fabric with considerably more body and a heavier nap than will be produced by the smaller 150 denier, 150 filament thread.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a fabric having woven therein with warp threads, filling threads of artificial silk having a relatively high number of filaments per denier on the order of one filament per denier, said filling threads having a sufiioient number of the filaments forming the surface part thereof broken to provide a soft velvet-like nap on the fabric without seriously weakening the threads.

2. As an article of manufacture, a fabric having woven therein filling threads of artificial silk produced from viscose having a relatively high number of filaments per denier in the order of substantially one filament per denier, said filling threads having a sufiicient number of the filaments of each thread broken and raised to produce a soft velvet-like nap on the fabric without seriously weakening the threads.

3. As an article of manufacture, a fabric having woven into the surface thereof to form a design, threads of artificial silk having a relatively high number of filaments per denier in the order of about one filament per denier, said surface threads having a suflicient number of the filaments of each thread broken and raised to produce a soft velvet-like nap on the fabric corresponding in shape to said design without seriously weakening the threads.

4. As an article of manufacture, fabric having woven therein with warp threads, filling threads of artificial silk produced from viscose having a relatively high number of filaments per denier, portions of said filling threads being caused to pass over a plurality of warp threads to form a raised figured design on the fabric, and having a sufficient number of the filaments of each filling thread forming said raised design broken to produce a soft velvet-like nap on the fabric corresponding in shape to said design without seriously weakening the threads.

ISAAC B. MERRIMAN. 

